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Saturday, November 13, 2010

Srinagar, Nov 13 (Only Kashmir): South Kashmir on Saturday was rocked by a massive embezzlement scandal in one branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank where a total of Rs 30 lakh was found missing from the accounts of several of its customers.The second manager of the branch is absconding, and the police have launched a major hunt to track him down.Signs that something was far amiss at the Nahama branch surfaced yesterday when a customer found Rs 4 lakh missing from his account.The shocked bank manager, faced with the hue and cry of the customer and his repeated pleas that he had not withdrawn the money, was compelled to deposit the missing amount in the account-holder’s name.The branch was still grappling with this shock as the news of the missing money spread through the area, and panicked customers rushed in to check their accounts.Swamped as the bank was with crowds of anxious people, the full scale of the fraud began to unfold today as many customers found money missing from their savings.Kulsoom, with account number SB 2885, said that she had Rs 2,90,000 deposited in the bank for her Hajj pilgrimage, but had been unable to take the journey for some reasons, and had come to check her balance today.“I found that Rs 2,30,000 were missing from the account,” she said.She brought this to the notice of the bank authorities, but was stunned when they handed over her balance sheet showing that she had withdrawn the amount.The document showed two withdrawals of 50,000 each and one of Rs 30,000 having been made on October 28, and 8th and 9th November respectively.Kulsoom raised an alarm, forcing the bank to look deeper into the matter, and found that the second manager of the branch, Bashir Ahmad Lone, had allegedly transferred the money into his wife’s name.Another customer, Muhammad Abdullah Shah, found that Rs 3 lakh missing from his account.Abdul Rahman Thoker said that Rs 40,000 had been withdrawn fraudulently from his account by four cheques.The allegations of their money having been fraudulently withdrawn went on piling up throughout the day as scores of account holders found their savings either wiped out or significantly depleted.The branch manager said admitted that his deputy was involved in the embezzlement, and said that an extensive investigation had been set up.He said that he had informed the bank’s zonal chief and cluster head, and top authorities had arrived on the scene today to supervise the scrutiny of the bank records.The branch would remain open on Sunday tomorrow to facilitate the investigation, he said.